Afghan-Indo film “A Man’s Desire for Fifth Wife” to be released soon

By Ahmadshah Ghanizada-Indian and Afghan filmmakers, directors and technicians are jointly working to make the first India-Afghanistan film in Dari language under a unique joint venture.

The film titled “A Man’s Desire for Fifth Wife” is the first film to be produced jointly by private directors and producers, with a total cost of $1.5-2 million.

This will be the first joint venture among the private directors and filmmakers of India and Afghanistan following the last joint effort in 1947. The Indian filmmakers in the past have produced a number of films in Afghanistan including Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 1992 film, Khuda Gawah ,and John Abraham’s 2006 film, Kabul Express.

The film is entirely shot in Afghanistan and was cleared by the Indian censor board last week,the Indian Express reported. Apart from the Indian technical team, famous music composer Ravindra Jain provided the background score for the film.

The scenario of the movie is based on a love story where a man goes on looking for a fifth wife, though he is allowed only four.

According to the Indian Express the film portrays centuries-old tradition of northern Afghanistan and violence against women in present day Afghan society.

A premimere will be hold by film’s crew in Delhi on August 29 this year before the film is the released, with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and a host of Afghani ministers attending the show.

The film’s India connection started when Afghanistan-based production company Altin Films, led by director Mohd Sediq Abedi, began to look for technical help to shoot the film. They were searching for someone to lend them cameras and other equipment to shoot the film.

Sanjay Bhan, the production designer for the film quoted by The Indian Express said, “After failing to draw any help from countries like Russia and Iran—as no one was willing to lend them expensive cameras and other equipment for the war-ravaged country—they came in contact with us through our Tajiki friends.”

Bhan further added, “We put together a team of people involving camerapersons and technicians. A week before we were to travel to Afghanistan, their former president Burhanuddin

Rabbani was killed by a turban bomb in September 2011. We convinced our team to travel to Afghanistan, and shot the film in 42 days in northern Afghanistan.”

“There are scenes on Buzakashi which had over 700 horses and 12,000 men, and my wife was the only woman,” Bhan added.

Afghan national security forces including national police and national army have provided security for for the team to shoot the film.